The Sawdust Art Festival hosts two groups of students from Project Access’s Family Resource Center and Warwick Square Apartments, low-income housing units in Santa Ana, to participate in a ceramics class on the festival grounds.

The 10 students between the ages of 8-12 returned this week to participate to glaze their ceramic clay masks in a class taught by long-time Sawdust artist and ceramicist Ora Sterling. They made masks on their first visit earlier in July.

The second Project Access group of 10 students between 13-18 will visit twice next month, taking a class from another long-time Sawdust artist and ceramicist Walter Reiss, where they will learn the craft of hand-building clay pottery.

For many of the students at Project Access, this will be the first time they are exposed to high quality art and professional artists. Ten students were hand-selected per field trip based on having a propensity for art.

“We were more than happy to extend the talents and resources here at the Sawdust to support the programs at Project Access. The two organizations are a great fit,” said Maggie Spencer, Sawdust artist and committee member of Sawdust Art Enrichment Fund. Newport Beach-based Project Access serves residents through family and senior resource centers in more than 40 low-income housing communities in California.